[What has tuberculosis medical care contributed to modern medicine in Japan]

About 40 years ago, we had a huge number of tuberculosis patients which were about three to five millions. And a great deal of effort has been given in order to conquer tuberculosis. The philosophy and the technology used in there efforts are thought to have made considerable contributions to the development of modern medicine in other fields in Japan. The controlled clinical trial used to test new antituberculous agents has been a basis for a modern judgment on the effectiveness of any new drugs and it has brought good clinical practices. Scientific procedures for diagnosis, bronchoscopy and pulmonary function tests started in the field of tuberculosis to have more detailed diagnosis included differential one, preoperative evaluation, and evaluation for respiratory failure. Philosophy and methods of modern rehabilitation for the patients started from the care for the patient with pulmonary tuberculosis. Occupational therapy has been used for confirmation of curability of tuberculosis and restoration of the physical strength. Physiotherapy also started from exercises preventing deformities of the thorax after thoracoplasty. Terminal care for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases is now most new medical way, but in the field of tuberculosis before chemotherapeutic era, these were good experiences for this kind of care. A pain control using morphine or cocaine for spinal caries and laryngeal tuberculosis, and also telling the truth to the patients were the good examples. Holistic medicine, which is also a modern topic, has been considered in tuberculosis medical care, because the disease has so much psycho-social problems.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)